Gathered
Several weeks ago I was contacted by a new boutique owner who had seen my state love ruffled tea towels in my Etsy shop. The ones I had listed were specifically a Mr. and Mrs. set that was made as a custom gift for a bridal shower. She was interested in buying some to sell in her new shop but with just the state of Virginia on the towel. I decided that instead of hand painting the state I would make it in the same fabric as the ruffle. The towels are extra large and are double layered. Since the towels were going to be sold as singles (rather than sets) I used different fabrics for all of them. The only criteria I had was to make them vintage-y looking. I knew exactly which fabrics I had in mind, and it turns out I am quite fond of Heather Bailey fabrics more than I realized! Nearly half of the sets I made were from her fabric lines! I threw in some Amy Butler, Denyse Schmidt and a few other whimsical prints as well!
This weekend I was able to deliver the towels in person! I could've easily shipped the towels, but I wanted to meet the owner in person and see the boutique so that I could personally tell others about it! The shop is called Gathered and is about an hour drive from where we live. It's in the historic downtown part of Front Royal, VA. I can't even remember the last time I'd been close to that area- probably well over a decade! It's close to a ton of wineries and also Luray Caverns and the Shennandoah's! It turns out we went during the Wine and Craft Festival, so after visiting the shop we were able to walk around and check out a few vendors, grab some lunch and B got to run around and play on the old caboose!
The shop was super cute! Cadyn, the owner is really sweet. We had exchanged several emails throughout the process, and she is just as nice in person! The boutique was cozy, and filled with lots of handmade and local items. There were some great quilts displayed in the front of the store, along with some really cool beaded accessories! The back of the shop was filled with some vintage ceramics and printed artwork and cards. There was a section of handmade bags and children's gifts- some handmade bunnies that were super cute! One of my favorite items there were these leather billfolds and journals that had some animals printed on them! If you are close to the Front Royal area, I would definitely check out this shop if you are on the hunt for some unique gifts!
Big Bang Shirt
I follow a couple Silhouette Cameo crafting groups on Facebook. A few weeks back someone had posted that they made a Big Bang Theory shirt- it was an outline of the four guys and their signature hairstyles. I thought it was the cutest thing and in the thread someone had mentioned they should do a rock, paper, scissors, lizard, Spock shirt! Instantly I knew I had to do the same! Someone had apparently posted a file, but if you follow any sort of group on Facebook you'll know that it's near impossible to find a file if it's not the most recently posted one! I ended up googling and found a few pictures of my own to trace within five minutes- much quicker than searching the files! My nephew is a big fan of the show as well so when I showed my sister the idea she wanted a shirt for her and both my nephews! The next time I saw her she already had purchased the shirts from Target for me to use! 
I found a cute ringer tee at Old Navy on sale for $4 to make B a shirt! It worked out perfect because I actually had red heat transfer vinyl on hand to match the shirt (I mostly have black or white on hand!) It's seriously dangerous making B shirts! I'm quickly running out of heat transfer vinyl because there are just too many fun designs to come up with!
Vino 2 Go Cups
I recently purchased a case of Vino2Go cups! I kept seeing them pop up and I knew they'd be fun to personalize with vinyl. With the weather getting warmer, I knew these would be perfect for bbqs, the beach, outdoor concerts, anything really! I managed to get my order in time for Mother's day, which I'm so glad I did because as soon as word got out, I had several new orders waiting! I tried to make a bunch of different ones so no two cups were exactly alike. Most customers requested some cutesy sayings, while I also had a few for monograms and one for a bachelorette party with a cutout of a bride on it! Right now I only have pink, white, and green lids available, but I'm hoping that as some of my stock moves, I can eventually buy another case with an assortment of more colors and have hopefully a handful of every color available!
Philly Love Tea Towels
I had another fun order of the state love tea towels for a bridal shower gift a few weeks ago. Both the bride and groom are from Philly, so it was a little different than my last order where the couple was from different states. I was told by my customer that the bride loved the Philly Love sign so I ended up using that in place of Mr. and Mrs. on the towel. Since it is a June wedding I picked out a summery print fabric- one of my favorites from Heather Bailey's Freshcut line! I love love the way these turned out! These towels are sure to brighten up any kitchen!
Philly Love Ruffled Tea Towels
Tall Skinny Tumblers
Remember how I mentioned I wanted to find some tall skinny tumblers? Well, I was able to get my hands on one to see how well they held up! I decided it was time to make MYSELF something! I didn't just want to put my name on it, so decided a little advertising would do the trick! I had every intention of using my own logo, but I just couldn't get the vinyl to cut out the sewing machine correctly- too many thin cuts and swirls (I'm still trying to figure out all the tricks of tracing on the Cameo)! I finally had to give up and tweaked a sewing machine image that I purchased from the Silhouette shop. I added a cute design to, and I was able to trace the bird from my logo so I added that onto the machine as well! I added my "handmade with love" tagline to the base of the machine, and then on the backside of the cup had my website.
Personalized Skinny Tumbler
I really love my new cup! It's sleek and fun, and totally me! I love the design of this cup, it's not bulky like the regular tumblers, and I love how the lid snaps in place rather than twist on! I'm hoping that more people will be interested in this style because I would like to start carrying them. Right now I don't have enough orders/interest to justify buying a case worth of skinny cups! We definitely don't have the room to store them! These cups are about 15 or 16 ounces, which is great for adults, but I'm hoping that eventually a smaller size might come out in this style- I think they'd make great kids cups! A 10 or 12 ounce would be perfect!
EarthWorks has relocated!
EarthWorks- located at 2 E Pennsylvania Ave, Lovettsville, VA
I meant to post this last month, but for those of you who discovered Crafty Natalie and other amazing local crafters through your purchases at EarthWorks just wanted to remind you that they have moved! They are now in Lovettsville, located at 2 E Pennsylvania Avenue. The shop is no longer in a busy shopping center, but in a stand alone, two level house! Such a cute set-up! There is also going to be a studio upstairs for classes and such! I hope you all will continue to support local and check them out if you haven't already!!
Tooth Fairy Pillows
When I first started Crafty Natalie I had a suggestion to make tooth fairy pillows. I can't remember what happened with that inquiry, I don't think it ever turned into an actual order, so maybe that's why I never gave it a second thought! This weekend I was given the suggestion again, so I figure, if I'm told twice I should probably make it right?! The suggestion couldn't have come at a better time! I've been in a sewing rut lately- been tired of sewing the same things over and over again, so making a new item was a definite welcome! I was able to whip several up the last few days during B's nap! I've only made a couple and I can definitely make custom ones to be personalized, but I figure for the time being, it will be nice to have a few samples on hand if the inquiry ever pops up again!
When I think of losing teeth I think of slightly older kids (around 5 years), so I didn't want to make these too baby-ish! I figured the robots and sock monkeys would be pretty universal for all boys, and since most girls love pink and purple I chose two of my favorite girly prints! I have a few other ideas that don't involve the tooth "fairy" on the pillow, and a couple ideas with the child's name on them! Hoping to make a few of those as well!
Accent Table Makeover
Black Accent Table
A few months ago we decided to get rid of one of our accent tables that was in the family room. It was a piece of furniture we'd had for six years now. It was one of the first pieces of furniture I purchased when we bought our house. It wasn't anything spectacular, just something I picked up at World Market for about $160 or so, but because this is our first house we bought together, I wasn't ready to part with it yet- it still had a bit of sentimental value to me! The drawer was broken (one of the pieces that held the slider in place had snapped, so the drawer kind've dangled), but I kept envisioning it being something more than just a black table! My husband said if I could find a use for it and did the work myself I could keep it! So of course the wheels started spinning!
I knew instantly that I wanted to paint it a fun pop of color. The hardest part was deciding what would work that would match the couch, chairs and rug that we have in the living room. I decided a mustardy yellow would be the perfect contrast. Our couches are cream (biggest mistake purchasing those, but that's what happens when you buy a house without thinking about future children!!), our chairs have brown and blues in them, and the rug is a shade of blue with a floral design. Yellow was our best color family to match and add a little spunk into our very boring decor!
Sanding
I honestly didn't think it would be that hard to redo the table. Figured we had a sander, how long could it take? Boy was I wrong! I was hoping to knock out the sanding in one nap time (about 2 hours), but unfortunately ran out of sandpaper and only finished about half of the sanding in the time I thought I'd completely finish it! Fast forward a couple weeks of being crazy busy that I didn't finish sanding until almost three weeks later! Whoopsies! But after that, two coats of primer and two coats of paint and I was done! (I really thought this would be a weekend project, but it took me a little over a month just from having other things to tend to).
Sanding and Priming
I love the way the table turned out! Since the drawer was broken, I just took the front panel of the drawer and glued it to the table, so it no longer holds anything. (Figured if I was going to put a decorative basket underneath, losing a drawer wouldn't be that big of a deal!) I ended up buying a decorative knob at World Market for about $4! The paint that we picked out was Glidden's Goldenrod, which I believe cost us about $12. Since we already had a sander and primer, the project cost me less than $25!
Yellow table is complete!
So, what did I convince my husband we needed to keep this table for?
B's new fish table!
I don't know how I did it, but I convinced my husband that B should have his own pet, because apparently a dog and cat aren't enough! 
He's having a blast watching Frostini and helping feed him everyday!
Workout Headbands
Last fall I ran my first 5k! Then ran another one during the holidays! Since this winter seemed to drag on F.O.R.E.V.E.R running was pretty obsolete the last few months! My husband and I are planning on running a few others this spring, we've already signed up for two in May! I'm pretty excited! I've never had an athletic bone in my body and honestly didn't think I'd enjoy running. I've still got a long ways to go to reach the time I'd like to be comfortable with running longer distances, but for now I'm enjoying the pace that I'm running at and always just tell myself it's okay to walk! Since it's starting to finally warm up, B and I are heading out more and more to get our daily runs in. I love that my 2yr old is my biggest motivator! Though sometimes I'm sure he's trying to kill me! After taking so much time off from running, I tend to take more walking breaks, and B will be right there in the BOB yelling, RUN MAMA RUN FASTER!!
I keep seeing some fancy workout headbands online that cost a fortune, so I decided to try making my own. (I can't justify spending $14 on a fabric/ribbon headband that I can make myself!) Mainly because my head is odd-shaped (big and round!)- there are very few headbands that will actually stay on my head! I read the trick was to put velvet ribbon on the underside, so that's what I did to make my own non-slip headband! I had a few scrap pieces of elastic and thought the pink scrap would look perfect with a turquoise chevron print that I have! I ran with it on a few times, and the velvet ribbon definitely did the trick!
I also decided to just make a few from regular foldover elastic. Since they work so well just knotted as hair ties, I made a few larger ones to use as headbands. Unfortunately these didn't stay on my head as well running! They kept slipping every five minutes or so, and eventually I took it off. However, when I wore it as an all day accessory of trying to keep my bangs out of the way, it lasted much longer and I only needed to adjust a few times during the day (mainly from fixing my hair after chasing after my 2 year old!)
State Love Ruffled Tea Towel
Last month I was approached to make a gift for a bridal shower. Remembering some of last years bridal shower gifts, I thought a ruffled tea towel set would be a really cute add-on. Since I've been seeing how popular the state love products are I thought incorporating them would be a good idea for the young couple! (If I had thought about it at the time I would've included personalized hand-stamped spoons into the set as well!)
The difference between the tea towels that I've been making this year and the tea towels that I first started making last year are that now they are double layered. Even though they are fairly large, I felt that the extra layer really made them last a bit longer before having to toss them in the laundry! Since the states are hand-painted on with fabric paint and the flour sac cloth material is fairly thin, I lined the back of the towel with a white flannel cotton and stitched around the front in a contrasting thread to outline the state.
I'm loving these towels! I think they make the cutest wedding/engagement/shower gift! They'd work great for a couple who loves to cook together too! They were a ton of fun to make (I love that in most cases the bride and groom are from different areas, so it makes it a bit more fun to create something truly unique to them!) I've already got the next set lined up to make for another bridal shower, and can't wait to show that one off!
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